Danes Win District Title and Advance to Regionals

Fountain Valley School hosted the 3A Boys Volleyball District Championships on Saturday and won the event. The Danes now advance to regionals.

First up, the Danes faced Mitchell for the third time this season. The Danes were victorious in two games with scores of 25-23, 25-16. Though Mitchell has seen a lot of improvement this season, the Danes had command of both games from the start.

All 14 Danes saw playing time against Mitchell. Defensively, the Danes came together and played well. Passing wasn't the best that the Danes have seen all season, but top back row players against Mitchell were Sam Werthan '13, Chris Cha '15, and Hunter Alexander '12. The Danes had 25 total digs against Mitchell, with five from Cha, four from Alexander, three from both Manolo Jimenez '14 and William Chu '13. Jun Kim '15, Bryce Walsh '14 and Niko Schaefer '14 all got a couple of digs, too.

Both freshman players, Phil Fan '15 and Kim saw a solo block each. Offensively, the Danes ruled the court. There were 12 kills overall, eight from Alexander, two from Jimenez, and one each from Younsun Won '12 and Werthan. Alexander led the team in attempts with nine total, followed by Jimenez and Schaefer with three each. The highlight of this game was a streak of aces (point-scoring serves) by Alexander. He had seven aces in total against Mitchell, five of which came in a row.

To fight for the number one spot at districts, the Danes went up against Lutheran for an exciting win in three games with scores of FVS 22-25, 26-19, 16-14.

Though the first game started out sluggish on the Danes' side, by the third game the energy in the gym was incredible from everyone: the players, the coaches and the fans. Defensively, the Danes played a strong game against Lutheran. There were 48 digs, 14 from libero Cha, 10 from Youngsun Won '12, seven from Alexander, five from Tung Chuladesa '12, and four each from Jimenez, Chu and Gilbert Chiu '12.

The Danes' hit and block coverage was on point in the second and third games, and both Jimenez and Chiu earned a solo block each. Offensively, this was an exciting match for the Danes. Some offensive plays that hadn't quite come together yet did, and the hitters took successful risks with their strong swings. Outside hitters Chu and Alexander led the team in kills, with seven each. Chiu had three kills, and overall the team scored 23 points in kills alone over the course of three games.

All of the front row players saw a lot of attempts at kills, Alexander and Won leading with 16 and 11. Won had perhaps his strongest game of the season, with really solid numbers all around. Setter Jimenez assisted 18 kills and was working off an ankle injury. Alexander led the team in aces once more, with a total of five against Lutheran, an impressive number since Lutheran had very solid passing.

Worth mentioning is the intensity of the third match, which ended in "overtime" 16-14. Both teams really wanted the title and fought hard for it. Fans were loud and the energy was right. The Danes may be playing Lutheran again next weekend during regionals.